Is there an iPad competitor, or will Apple pull an ‘iPod’ and dominate?

There is no denying Apple’s lead and command of the tablet market with the iPad and iPad 2. One could even argue that Apple itself created the market — prior to the iPad’s announcement, many industry analysts were skeptical that such a device would even be made. And when it seemed all but certain that Apple would develop a tablet computer, questions as to whether there was even a market for such a device exists. The answer is yes, and the number of tablets sold so far are a solid testament to that.

To this day, regardless of a fanboy’s blind allegiance to any particular hardware manufacturer or mobile operating system, the numbers show that no one is even coming close to touching Apple. When Apple held its earnings call recently, we reported:

It’s another quarter and another record profit for Apple, as the company posted second-quarter revenues of $24.67 billion and $5.99 billion profits thanks to the success of the iPhone and the iPad 2.

At the time of the call, and since its release, over 4.69 million iPad 2 units had been sold by Apple, an undoubtedly impressive number for a device that has only been in the market for a year, for a market that has really only existed for the same amount of time. Will Android or webOS 3.0 be able to make a dent in Apple’s bottom line in the tablet space?

PC Mag says:

In my view of the world, all other competitors could have real problems competing with Apple if they only approach the tablet market from a hardware centric view. And I maintain that owning the entire ecosystem of hardware, software and services may, in the end, be key to really biting into Apple’s market share. I have two scenarios to suggest that may need to come together to do this.

We have new tablets for Android coming out by the dozen that sport sexy hardware features, powerful processors, relatively decent battery life and cameras and ports galore, but why can’t they touch Apple? And why can’t they come near Apple’s pricing, either?

Check out the article below to see a few ideas for how manufacturers can start taking steps, along with the software makers, towards stealing some of the iPad’s thunder.

The key for me as I like both the Apple and Android platforms is business applications and integration. I think apple has the advantage thanks in large part to their ability to seamlessly integrate iTunes and all their media content across each device and manage to even integrate this with apple tv all from one simple login. I struggle more with Andriod due to having multiple accounts from 3rd parties which quite frankly change as emerging leaders in the space.